Thursday, March 24, 2016

Mises Institute donor files for Ch.11 bankruptcy

End Coal | Arch Coal funded US ‘libertarian’ think tank and ALEC - Bob Burton:

March 2, 2016 - "Arch Coal, the second largest coal company in the US, has revealed that it has been a secret funder of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a self-proclaimed 'libertarian' think tank which has been a part of the global echo chamber of groups opposing action on climate change.

"The filing also reveals the coal company was a behind-the-scenes funder of the American Legislative Exchange Commission (ALEC), a US-based group which drafts corporate-sponsored legislation and brokers its introduction via a network of conservative legislators.

"Arch Coal’s recent 579-page filing ... with the US Bankruptcy Court listed the Ludwig von Mises Institute as one of the company’s creditors which are owed money. However, no details are provided on how much Arch Coal has paid the libertarian think tank or when any payments were made.

"On its website, the Alabama-headquartered institute states it champions a 'free-market capitalist economy and a private-property order that rejects taxation, monetary debasement, and a coercive state monopoly of protective services.' The institute obliquely notes on its website it receives funding from businesses but provides no details on who they are.

"In 2014 the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s annual return to the US Internal Revenue Service revealed it had total revenue of US$3.8 million.... [T]he institute has been a part of the US conservative echo chamber railing [sic] against regulations to tackle climate change....

"Arch Coal operates 11 mines across seven states of the US. On January 11 Arch Coal filed for ‘Chapter 11’ bankruptcy protection in the US which allows the company to restructure its debt while continuing to trade. Arch Coal estimates that in 2015 it produced 118 million tonnes of coal for both the US and export markets."

Read more: http://endcoal.org/2016/03/arch-coal-funded-us-libertarian-think-tank-and-alec/
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